Isaac LaBelle stopped 40 of 41 shots while the Waywayseecappo Wolverines scored two shorthanded goals on their way to a fourth straight win in a 3-1 triumph of the Winkler Flyers.
The Wolverines got off to a quick start on Tuesday night in Winkler, drawing first blood on a short-handed marker.
Conrad Phillips and Michael Heitkamp connected with Brandon Lawson who came down the slot and ripped one off the back bar past Flyers netminder Riley Morgan to give the Wolverines an early 1-0 lead.
It wouldn’t take long for the Flyers to get back in this one as Eric Fawkes beat Isaac LaBelle on the powerplay to knot the game up at 1-1.
Waywayseecappo would continue to move their feet and the constant hard work would pay off. Jaymes Knee took a pass from Jake Bestul that handcuffed Morgan, and the Wolverines would take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.
The Wolverines and Flyers spent much of the second period at each other’s throats and combined for 28 penalty minutes. Just as the Wolverines scored a shorthanded goal in the first, they found a way to match the same result in the second.
Near the end of the second, Preston Seymour and Conrad Phillips connected on a 2-on-1 with Seymour making no mistake to give the Wolverines a 3-1 lead at the end of forty minutes.
Heading into the third period this season when leading, the Wolverines are 16-3-1-0 and it certainly showed in the final twenty minutes.
The Wolverines would shut down all quality chances the Flyers had and Isaac LaBelle was tremendous in stopping the Winkler pursuit.
The Flyers would pull their goaltender for the extra attacker in the late goings of the period, but the Wolverines proved to be too much for the Flyers on Tuesday night as Waywayseecappo would skate away with a 3-1 win.
Waywayseecappo’s effort on the penalty kill was the difference on Tuesday night as the club killed off six of seven Flyers chances and scored two shorthanded goals in the process,
Now, 23-24-2-2 on the year, Waywayseecappo overtakes sole possession of the eighth and final playoff spot with 50 points and two games in hand on Winkler.
The Wolverines will have a couple days off before heading north to play Swan Valley and OCN on back to back nights starting on Friday.